With bagged lunches and crisp clean notebooks, kids everywhere are heading back to school to brush up on their math, English and geography skills. One lesson they won’t get in the classroom, however, is arguably one of the most important for their future success: How to smartly and responsibly handle money. That is a course we leave to parents, who do not get a lesson plan.

"Parents do great teaching kids good manners and how to be safe, make their beds and be culturally savvy," says Mary Hunt, personal finance expert and author of recently released Raising Financially Confident Kids. "But so very often parents neglect the most important thing of all—to prepare them to be financially astute."

Hunt says teaching good money skills can be a blind spot for parents because so many feel financially inept themselves. “Parents have this notion that because they are in debt or not saving enough, they have no basis to teach their children about money.” They’re wrong, Hunt says. Teaching financial literacy is like teaching any language. She provides a breakdown of how to talk about money, make use of everyday learning opportunities and provide kids with hands-on experience, so they can learn firsthand.

How To Talk About Money

When do you need to begin thinking about teaching money skills? “You start the moment you drive home from the hospital,” says Hunt. Kids are more likely to do what you do than do what you say, so right from the beginning it’s important to model healthy financial behaviors and talk often and calmly about money.

The first lesson kids must learn is that money has value, and when you spend it, it’s gone. When children are young, Hunt suggests always using cash when you're with them rather than credit or debit cards. "Cash is very visual, clear cut and not confusing," she says. "Credit sends a mixed message to kids." Otherwise, they might have trouble grasping the concept of spending and believe that a magic card gets you anything you want.

Another important conversation is the difference between needs—necessary expenditures--and wants—the just-for-funs. Hunt believes parents should reinforce through words and actions that it’s important not to spend more money than you have. One good way is to keep the just-for-fun purchases in check by not giving in to a child’s every request or going overboard yourself. However, Hunt warns against saying, "We can't afford it.” For a child, that translates to “we’re poor” and worries them. Instead, she suggests saying, "We choose not to spend our money that way."

Allowance Ground Rules

While allowance can be a controversial topic for many parents, Hunt believes that giving children allowance is one of the best ways for them to learn how to handle money on their own. She suggests starting at age six and recommends $1 a week for their age ($6 a week for a 6-year-old and $15 a week for a 15-year-old). Start off with a weekly allotment and then extend it to bi-weekly for pre-teens and monthly for teens. That way, they’ll be continually challenged to plan and make it last longer.